Spades Variant

ABSTRACT

A card game includes a deck of playing cards, an octahedral die, and spinner with a category card and timer. Each face of the octahedral die has indicia designating the dealer for the game. The spinner is divided into sections. A rotatable pointer is attached to the spinner. A category card is associated with the spinner and has verbiage describing the variants of the card game selected by the pointer. A timer controls the time of a speed hand and is started at the beginning of play of the card game. Prior to beginning of play of the card game, the octahedral die is thrown and when it had landed, the side facing up decides the dealer. Another player then spins the rotatable pointer to decide the category variant of the game to be played. Play then proceeds as with the rules of the card game.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to card games where play is decided by selection devices.

BACKGROUND

Spades, retrieved from Wikipedia at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spades found on May 9, 2017, is a trick-taking card game devised in the United States in the 1930s. It can be played as either a partnership or solo/“cutthroat” game. The object is to take at least the number of tricks (also known as “books”) that were bid before play of the hand began. Spades is a descendant of the Whist family of card games, which also includes Bridge, Hearts, and Oh Hell. Its major difference as compared to other Whist variants is that, instead of trump being decided by the highest bidder or at random, the Spade suit is always trumps, hence the name.

FIG. 1 provides a table of the general rules of play for the game of Spades as published by wikiHow and at http://www.wikihow.com/images/sampledocs/4/Spades-Rules.pdf, found on May 19, 2017. Variants of these rules are known and are discussed in the Wikipedia article directly or with reference to other sources for these variants.

The preparation for playing the game begins with deciding the total score that will determine the game winner. The table is arranged with players being seated at a table, with partners on opposites sides of the table, when playing with partner pairs. A fifty-two (52) card deck is shuffled and dealt entirely among the players with any extras discarded.

The bidding starts with the player to the dealer's left. Each player states the number of tricks, or hands, that the player believes they can win. Each bid is recorded.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a standard playing card deck. It consists of 52 cards ranked according to their numbers from 2-10, with the face cards ranking from lowest to highest Jack, Queen, King, Ace. The suits are ranked from lowest to highest diamonds, clubs, hearts, spades. The play begins with the player to the dealer's left playing any card other than a spade. Proceeding clockwise, each player plays a card, attempting to play a higher-ranking card that will win the trick. The person who played the highest card takes the trick and leads the next round. Play continues until all cards have been played.

The scoring is structured such that each player earns 10 points for each trick they bid and successfully win and receive one additional point for each extra trick. Those players who did not make their bid will have 10 points subtracted from their score for each trick they bid, regardless of the number of tricks they made.

As noted in the Wikipedia article, a common scoring variant penalizes players for underestimating the number of tricks they will take, while at the same time not removing the possible strategy of intentionally taking overtricks. This is accomplished by keeping track of tricks in the ones place on the scorecard. A player is assessed a 100-point penalty when 10 tricks or sandbags are accumulated. At the end of a round, the cards are shuffled and dealt again. Each team bids again and plays another round. The game ends when a player or team reaches a total score equal to or higher than the number that was decided before play began.

SUMMARY

An object of this disclosure is to provide an apparatus and methods of play for a variant to trick-taking card games such as Spades, referred hereafter as “Spades Variant”.

To accomplish at least this object, a Spades Variant card game includes a 52-card deck of standard playing cards, a die, and spinner with a category card and timer. The deck of cards meets the standard for playing the game of spades. Additionally, jokers may be included for playing the variants of the game of spades. An octahedral die has eight sides, wherein each side is shaped in the form of an equilateral triangle. Each face of the die has indicia such as letters and/or numbers designating the player that is be the dealer for the game.

The spinner has a circular base plate that is divided into twelve (12) sections, wherein each section circumscribes an arc of 30°. Each section of the circular base plate provided with the indicia include colors, number, letters, or other symbols to distinguish the sections. The spinner further includes a pointer that is attached to the circular base plate to permit the pointer to freely rotate. The spinner has a category card associated with it for defining the categories specified by the rotating pointer when it has stopped rotating. The category card has verbiage describing twelve variants of the game of Spades to be played as selected by the pointer.

In some embodiments of the card game, a timer is included as a feature. The timer is activated, when the rotating pointer is spun and stops on the base plate designating a speed hand. The timer is started at completion of the bidding process and at the start of the trick-taking process. Both teams must complete play of the hand by timer expiration of the timer, or no team wins the bid.

In preparation for playing the card game, the octahedral die is thrown and when it had landed, the side facing up decides which of the players is to be the dealer. Another player then spins the pointer on the spinner to decide the category variant of the game to be played. Play then proceeds as with the standard game of spades.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 provides a table of the general rules of play for the game of Spades.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a standard playing card deck consisting of 52 cards ranked according to their numbers from 2-10, with the face cards ranking from lowest to highest Jack, Queen, King, Ace and suits that are ranked from lowest to highest diamonds, clubs, hearts, spades.

FIG. 3a is a drawing of a top view of an octahedral die showing the side order and the indicia embodying the principals of this disclosure.

FIG. 3b is a drawing of a bottom view of an octahedral die showing the side order and the indicia of this disclosure.

FIG. 3c is a drawing of a tilted view of an octahedral die embodying the principals of this disclosure showing the indicia of the player designations.

FIG. 4 is a drawing of a spinner embodying the principals of this disclosure showing the colored sections of the circular base and the rotatable pointer.

FIG. 5 is a drawing of the category card embodying the principals of this disclosure listing the illustrative categories of the variants of the game of Spades Variant.

FIG. 6 is a drawing of an hourglass timer for the Spades Variant embodying the principals of this disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of the method of play for the game of Spades Variant embodying the principals of this disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A Spades Variant card game includes a 52-card deck of standard playing cards, a die, and spinner with a category card and timer. The deck of cards meets the standard for playing the game of spades as shown in FIG. 2. An octahedral die has eight sides, wherein each side is shaped in the form of an equilateral triangle. Each face of the die has indicia such as letters, numbers, and/or other symbols designating the player that is be the dealer for the game.

The spinner has a circular disk that is divided into twelve (12) sections, wherein each section circumscribes an arc of 30°. Each section of the circular disk provided with indicia that include colors, number, letters, or other symbols indicating the sections to distinguish the sections. The spinner further includes a pointer that is attached to the circular disk to permit the pointer to freely rotate. The spinner has a category card associated with it for defining the categories specified by the rotating pointer when it has stopped rotating. The category card has verbiage describing twelve variants of the game of Spades to be played as selected by the pointer.

The timer is included as a feature of one of the categories selected by the spinner. The timer is designated, when the rotating pointer of the spinner is spun and stops on the disk designating a speed hand. The timer is started at completion of the bidding process and at the start of the trick-taking process. Both teams must complete play of the hand by timer expiration of the timer, or no team wins the bid.

In preparation for playing the card game, the octahedral die is thrown and when it had landed, the side facing up decides which of the players is to be the dealer. Another player then spins the pointer on the spinner to decide the category variant of the game to be played. Play then proceeds as with the standard game of spades.

FIGS. 3a and 3b are drawings of a top view and bottom view of an octahedral die 10 showing the side order and the indicia of this disclosure. FIG. 3c is a drawing of a tilted view of an octahedral die 10 of this disclosure showing the indicia of the player designations. Referring to FIGS. 3a and 3b , each of the equilateral triangles forming the facets, Side 1, Side 2, . . . , Side 8, of the octahedral die 10. Each of the sides is labeled with the indicia indicating the player numbers, P1, P2, P3, and P4.

The octahedral die 10 may be formed of bone, glass, wood, metal or more likely plastic. In modern production, the octahedral die 10 is formed of a plastic that is a high molecular weight polymer. For manufacture of the octahedral die 10, the plastic must have good impact strength, be easily colored, and heat stable. It is also desirable that the polymer be clear, colorless, and transparent. The octahedral die 10 is formed in a mold created as a cavity carved in two pieces of steel. The pieces of steel are forced together and secured to form the cavity. The plastic is injected into the cavity to create the octahedral die 10. Upon cooling the octahedral die 10 is then painted with the indicia indicating the player numbers, P1, P2, P3, and P4. Alternately, the indicia maybe included as part of the molding process.

FIG. 4 is a drawing of a spinner 100 of this disclosure showing the colored sections of the circular base plate 105 and the rotatable pointer 110. The circular base plate 110 is divided into twelve (12) sections C1, C2, . . . , C12 wherein each section circumscribes an arc of 30°. Each of the twelve (12) sections C1, C2, . . . , C12 is colored with a unique color that is used to choose a category of the variant of the play of the game of Spades. The twelve (12) sections C1, C2, . . . , C12 may each contain a number (i.e., 1, 2 . . . 12) which indicates the category of the variant of play of the game. The rotatable pointer 110 is secured to the base plate 105 by a fastener 115 that is structured such that the rotatable pointer 110 freely rotates above the base plate 105. The rotatable pointer 110 is rotatably secured to the center of the base plate 105 with a fastener 115 such that when the rotatable pointer 110 is spun by a designated player, the rotatable pointer 110 randomly points to one of the twelve (12) sections C1, C2, . . . , C12 of base plate 105.

FIG. 5 is a drawing of the category card 120 of this disclosure listing the illustrative categories of the variants of the game of Spades Variant. The category card is a constructed of heavy paper, cardboard, plastic or the like such that it has is sufficiently rigid to with stand heavy use. The listing of the categories of variants of the Spades game as printed on the category card is provided with numbers as shown or will be printed such that each category is colored to match the colors of the twelve (12) sections C1, C2, . . . , C12 of base plate 105 of the spinner 100. The game variants define the change of the order of play, the direction of dealing, the structure of the bidding for a hand, the seating of the players, switching of hands among the players, and play timing (discussed hereinafter). The types of variants printed as shown on the category card 120 are illustrative and other variants are envisioned that will embody the principals of this disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a drawing of an hourglass timer 130 for the Spades Variant embodying the principals of this disclosure. The hourglass timer 130 is a standard hourglass timer having a glass, plastic, or other transparent container 135. A granular material 140 such as fine sand is placed in the transparent container 135. The transparent container 135 has a constrictive narrow neck 145 that allows a regulated flow of the granular material 140 from an upper section 137 of the transparent container 135 to a lower section 130 of the transparent container 135. In the embodiment of this disclosure, the regulated flow of the granular material 140 is set such that a hand of the game of Spades Variant is played in approximately one minute. The timing of the hourglass timer 130 may be regulated to any time and still embody the principals of this disclosure. Further, the hourglass timer 130 is illustrative and any time keeping device such as stopwatch, count down timer, and the like embody the principals of this disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of the method of play for the game of Spades Variant embodying the principals of this disclosure. Play begins by providing 150 a standard playing card deck that consists of 52 cards having four suits (diamonds, clubs, hearts, spades) ranked according to their numbers from 2-10, with the face cards ranking from lowest to highest Jack, Queen, King, Ace. An octahedral die as described in FIG. 3 is then provided 155. The octahedral die has eight sides, wherein each side is shaped in the form of an equilateral triangle. Each face of the die has indicia such as letters, numbers, and/or symbols designating the player that is be the dealer for the game.

The method continues with providing 160 a 12-sectioned spinner with a rotatable pointer as described in FIG. 4. Each of the twelve (12) sections of the spinner is colored with a unique color that is used to choose a category of the variant of the play of the game of Spades. The 12 categories are printed on a provided 165 card and demarcated by each of the individual colors. A timer is provided 165 with the category card for timing the “Speed Round” category variant listed on the category card.

One player then rolls 170 the octahedral die to determine the dealer and a second player then spins 175 the spinner to determine the category of the variant. The second player reads the category card to determine the category of the variant to be played. The designated dealer deals the hand and the game proceeds 180 according to the rules of the game being played with the category variant. If the category variant is a “Speed Round”, the timer is set and the game proceeds.

At the end of a hand of the play, the octahedral die may be rolled 170 again for determining a new dealer and the spinner spun 175 to determine a new variant for the hand. Alternately, the variant maybe kept for an entire game. A new variant chosen with the roll 170 of the octahedral die will choose a new dealer for the and the spin 175 of the spinner will choose a new category of the variant of the new game.

While this disclosure has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A card game comprising: a deck of playing cards comprising: a number of cards that are divided into a plurality of suits wherein each card in one suit is marked with an indicator of the suit and each card has a numerical designator within the suit; a die configured such that when the die is rolled and comes to a stop, a designating indicator is in a readable position for designating a dealer for the card game; and a spinner divided into multiple sections such that when a rotating indicator affixed to a base plate of the spinner is rotated a category of play is chosen.
 2. The card game of claim 1 wherein the deck of playing cards meets the requirements for playing the game of spades.
 3. The card game of claim 2 wherein the deck of playing comprises jokers for playing the variants of the game of spades.
 4. The card game of claim 1 wherein the die is an octahedral die with eight sides, wherein each side is shaped in the form of an equilateral triangles.
 5. The card game of claim 4 wherein the designating indicator includes indicia that is placed each face of the die wherein the indicia are letters, numbers, and/or symbols designating the player that is be the dealer for the game.
 6. The card game of claim 1 wherein the spinner has a circular base plate that is divided into twelve (12) sections, wherein each section circumscribes an arc of 30°.
 7. The card game of claim 6 wherein each section of the circular base plate includes indicia to distinguish the sections, wherein the indicia include colors, numbers, letters, or other symbols indicating the sections.
 8. The card game of claim 7 further comprising a category card associated with the spinner for defining the categories specified by the rotating pointer when it has stopped rotating, wherein the category card includes indicia indicating the sections and verbiage describing the variants of the card game to be played as selected by the pointer.
 9. The card game of claim 8 further comprising a timer that is associated with the category of the variant of the card game.
 10. The card game of claim 9 wherein the timer is selected, when the rotating pointer is spun and stops on the section of base plate designating a speed hand.
 11. The card game of claim 10 wherein the timer is started at completion of the bidding process and at the start of the trick-taking process and the speed hand requires teams to complete play of the hand by time expiration of the timer or no team wins the bid.
 12. The card game of claim 1 wherein in preparation for playing the card game, the octahedral die is thrown and when it had landed, the side facing up decides which of the players is to be the dealer, another player then spins the pointer on the spinner to decide the category variant of the game to be played, and play then proceeds as with the rules of the card game.
 13. A method for playing a card game comprising the steps of: providing a deck of playing cards comprising: a number of cards that are divided into a plurality of suits wherein each card in one suit is marked with an indicator of the suit and each card has a numerical designator within the suit; providing a die configured such that when the die is rolled and comes to a stop, a designating indicator is in a readable position for designating a dealer for the card game; and providing a spinner divided into multiple sections such that when a rotating indicator affixed to a base plate of the spinner is rotated a category of play is chosen; designating a player to throw the die; throwing the die by the designated player and when it had landed, the side facing up chooses which of the players is to be the dealer; designating another player for spinning the pointer; spinning the pointer on the spinner to decide the category variant of the game to be played; and playing card game according to rules of card.
 14. The method for playing the card game of claim 13 wherein the deck of playing cards meets the requirements for playing the game of spades.
 15. The method for playing the card game of claim 14 wherein the deck of playing comprises jokers for playing the variants of the game of spades.
 16. The method for playing the card game of claim 13 wherein the step of providing the die comprises forming the die as an octahedral die with eight sides, wherein each side is shaped in the form of an equilateral triangle.
 17. The method for playing the card game of claim 16 wherein forming the die included forming the designating indicator with indicia that is placed each face of the die wherein the indicia are letters, numbers, and/or symbols designating the player that is be the dealer for the game.
 18. The method for playing the card game of claim 13 wherein providing the spinner comprises forming the spinner with a circular base plate that is divided into twelve (12) sections, wherein each section circumscribes an arc of 30°.
 19. The method for playing the card game of claim 18 wherein each section of the circular base plate includes indicia to distinguish the sections, wherein the indicia include colors, numbers, letters, or other symbols indicating the sections.
 20. The method for playing the card game of claim 19 further comprising the step of providing a category card associated with the spinner for defining the categories specified by the rotating pointer when it has stopped rotating, wherein the category card includes indicia indicating the sections and verbiage describing the variants of the card game to be played as selected by the pointer.
 21. The method for playing the card game of claim 20 further comprising the step of providing a timer that is associated with at least one category of the variant of the card game.
 22. The method for playing the card game of claim 21 further comprising the step of selecting the timer, when the rotating pointer is spun and stops on the section of base plate designating a speed hand.
 23. The method for playing the card game of claim 22 wherein the step of activating the timer comprises starting the timer at a start of beginning of playing the card game and the speed hand requires teams to complete the playing of the hand by time expiration of the timer or no team wins the bid.
 24. The method for playing the card game of claim 13 further comprising the step of preparing for playing the card game by the steps of: throwing the octahedral die and when it had landed, deciding which of the players is to be the dealer based on the face of the die pointing up; spinning the pointer on the spinner by another player for deciding the category variant of the game to be played; and playing the card game according to the rules of the card game. 